IDLE confusion

[MrBlueSky]

Hi, I'm trying to use IDLE to develop My First Python App and my head
hurts...

I've a file called spalvi.py with this in it:
from Test import *
firstTest("Mike ")

And a file called Test.py with this in it:
def firstTest(name) :
print "Yo",name

I open spalvi.py with IDLE and Run it. It says "Yo Mike".
I use the File menu to open Test.py and change the message from "Yo" to
"Hi".
I Run it again.... it still says "Yo Mike" :-(
I close everything down, open spalvi.py with IDLE and Run it again. It
says "Hi Mike".

So I'm obviously not using IDLE in the "right" way. But what *is* the
"right" way, when you're trying to develop using several source files?

John

[Claudio Grondi]

Re: IDLE confusion

MrBlueSky wrote:[color=blue]
> Hi, I'm trying to use IDLE to develop My First Python App and my head
> hurts...
>
> I've a file called spalvi.py with this in it:
> from Test import *
> firstTest("Mike ")
>
> And a file called Test.py with this in it:
> def firstTest(name) :
> print "Yo",name
>
> I open spalvi.py with IDLE and Run it. It says "Yo Mike".
> I use the File menu to open Test.py and change the message from "Yo" to
> "Hi".
> I Run it again.... it still says "Yo Mike" :-(
> I close everything down, open spalvi.py with IDLE and Run it again. It
> says "Hi Mike".
>
> So I'm obviously not using IDLE in the "right" way. But what *is* the
> "right" way, when you're trying to develop using several source files?
>
> John
>[/color]
You need some deeper understanding of what import does and what happens
when you import again (after the library files have changed).
Try in the IDLE menu [Shell] "Restart Shell" (Ctrl+F6) each time you
have changed something in your files - this "resets" anything previously
imported, which stays the same way otherwise.

Claudio

[Christophe]

Re: IDLE confusion

Claudio Grondi a écrit :[color=blue]
> MrBlueSky wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Hi, I'm trying to use IDLE to develop My First Python App and my head
>> hurts...
>>
>> I've a file called spalvi.py with this in it:
>> from Test import *
>> firstTest("Mike ")
>>
>> And a file called Test.py with this in it:
>> def firstTest(name) :
>> print "Yo",name
>>
>> I open spalvi.py with IDLE and Run it. It says "Yo Mike".
>> I use the File menu to open Test.py and change the message from "Yo" to
>> "Hi".
>> I Run it again.... it still says "Yo Mike" :-(
>> I close everything down, open spalvi.py with IDLE and Run it again. It
>> says "Hi Mike".
>>
>> So I'm obviously not using IDLE in the "right" way. But what *is* the
>> "right" way, when you're trying to develop using several source files?
>>
>> John
>>[/color]
> You need some deeper understanding of what import does and what happens
> when you import again (after the library files have changed).
> Try in the IDLE menu [Shell] "Restart Shell" (Ctrl+F6) each time you
> have changed something in your files - this "resets" anything previously
> imported, which stays the same way otherwise.
>
> Claudio[/color]

And I though that "bug" was fixed already :) Try to use something else
than IDLE for your code editing. Use Scite for example.

http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html

[Terry Reedy]

Re: IDLE confusion


"Christophe " <chris.cavalari a@free.fr> wrote in message
news:446991de$0 $7690$626a54ce@ news.free.fr...[color=blue]
> Try in the IDLE menu [Shell] "Restart Shell" (Ctrl+F6) each time you
> have changed something in your files - this "resets" anything previously
> imported, which stays the same way otherwise.[/color]

And I though that "bug" was fixed already :)

On my system, the current 2.4.3 version of Python+IDLE *does* auto restart
with each run (F5). So either the OP is using a much older version (did
not specify) or the respondant mis-diagnosed the problem.

tjr

[taleinat@gmail.com]

Re: IDLE confusion

This isn't really an IDLE issue, it's a Python feature which needs to
be understood.

In Python, once you've imported a module once, importing it again is
ignored. This works fine under the assumption that modules don't change
during a single Python session. However, when you're developing a
module this isn't true, and a workaround for this mechanism is needed.


The safest way to go is to start a new Python session.

In the IDLE interpreter ("Shell" window) you can do this from the Shell
menu. Running a module from an IDLE editor window (Run->Run Module)
will also restart the interpreter.

Notice, however, that these will only work if IDLE has a sub-process
for the interpreter! If not, the Shell menu won't exist, and Run Module
won't restart the interpreter.

On Windows, opening IDLE by right-clicking a file and choosing 'Edit
with IDLE' will cause it to open without a subprocess.



If you change a module and want to use the newer version in the same
Python session, use the built-in 'reload' function:

import Test
reload(Test)

Notice that if you use the 'from <module> import ...' syntax, you need
to import the module itself (i.e. import <module>) before you can
reload it.

I advise to use this with care, as things can get quite confusing after
a few reloads...

[Christophe]

Re: IDLE confusion

Terry Reedy a écrit :[color=blue]
> "Christophe " <chris.cavalari a@free.fr> wrote in message
> news:446991de$0 $7690$626a54ce@ news.free.fr...
>[color=green]
>>Try in the IDLE menu [Shell] "Restart Shell" (Ctrl+F6) each time you
>>have changed something in your files - this "resets" anything previously
>>imported, which stays the same way otherwise.[/color]
>
>
> And I though that "bug" was fixed already :)
>
> On my system, the current 2.4.3 version of Python+IDLE *does* auto restart
> with each run (F5). So either the OP is using a much older version (did
> not specify) or the respondant mis-diagnosed the problem.[/color]

I was looking at some idlefork info not long ago and I found something
which might get those different behaviours with a recent version of idle
: if idle cannot open it's RPC socket, it'll execute all python code in
it's own interpreter. There's an option for that in fact.

[Scott David Daniels]

Re: IDLE confusion

Christophe wrote:[color=blue]
> Terry Reedy a écrit :[color=green]
>> "Christophe " <chris.cavalari a@free.fr> wrote in message
>> news:446991de$0 $7690$626a54ce@ news.free.fr...
>>[color=darkred]
>>> Try in the IDLE menu [Shell] "Restart Shell" (Ctrl+F6) each time you
>>> have changed something in your files - this "resets" anything previously
>>> imported, which stays the same way otherwise.[/color]
>>
>>
>> And I though that "bug" was fixed already :)
>>
>> On my system, the current 2.4.3 version of Python+IDLE *does* auto
>> restart with each run (F5). So either the OP is using a much older
>> version (did not specify) or the respondant mis-diagnosed the problem.[/color]
>
> I was looking at some idlefork info not long ago and I found something
> which might get those different behaviours with a recent version of idle
> : if idle cannot open it's RPC socket, it'll execute all python code in
> it's own interpreter. There's an option for that in fact.[/color]
The option (for those playing along) is '-n'
So:
Windows: command is: \python24\Lib\i dlelib\idle.pyw -n
OS-X: command is: pythonw ?/python24/Lib/idlelib/idle.pyw -n
Linux & such: python ?/python24/Lib/idlelib/idle.pyw -n
(I think these don't
distinguish python & pythonw)

It is useful if you are having some socket-to-self issues typically
caused by over-conservative firewall settings, because no socket
is allocated for communication.

It is also useful for experimenting with Tkinter, because a Tkinter
display loop is already running, so you can see the effects of your
Tkinter commands as they are entered.

--Scott David Daniels
scott.daniels@a cm.org